Monday, May 16, 2011

Houdini for girls

Kevin Connolly has posted on his excellent blog, Houdini Himself, an intriguing tease for a new Houdini book in 2012. Says Kevin:

"There is a new Houdini book with a new angle coming out in Spring of 2012. This book will geared to the young female market. The first part of the book will be a story of fiction about Houdini, followed by a historical essay about Houdini. The book will be published my a major line geared to young girls."

Sounds interesting. Kevin says he will reveal more details as he gets them, so keep watching Houdini Himself.

1 comment:

I never got the sense that Houdini books for kids were targeted only to boys, but I *guess* it's nice that they thought about a way to market Houdini to girls.

(Of course...things like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and toy cars or trucks were marketed towards little boys...and I LOVED watching TMNT or playing with my toy racing cars and dump trucks, just as much as I loved playing with my Barbies and Polly Pockets. So gender marketing doesn't always work the way marketers think it will).

About the book's format though---it doesn't seem particular to girls, as such. It sounds a little bit like books I read about Beethoven or Margaret Mead when I was a kid, which always contained a colorfully illustrated fictional biography plus a short historical bio at the back. And I'm pretty sure they were geared towards both sexes.

Funny story: These particular books always included an imaginary, encouraging friend for the subject of the story, e.g. a little cat name Keys that tells Beethoven to not give up and to keep playing and composing, even when deaf.

Thing is, I actually thought, until a certain age, that you couldn't be famous without having an imaginary friend to help you along first! LOL. But when every book you read about a famous people features an imaginary friend, it's not an illogical conclusion to draw, is it? :p